Sarlacc

For whatever grief I give Acura...consumer reports is worth dog shit when it comes to cars.

AZuser

"Whatever Ludacris is doing right now. It's that kind of thrill"

This is what I'm seeing. Ludacris is at a party. Instead of mingling with people and having fun, he's sitting by himself... bored. What to do? He decides to check his phone to see if something more exciting is happening elsewhere.

In other words, the TLX isn't happening.

AZuser

Yes. But you'd be surprised how many people still use it as a resource when car shopping.

oonowindoo

agree but it seems that particular article was written by people in AZ Cartalk.

you can pretty much summarize the whole article with 3 words - mediocre in everything

usdmJON

Just realized I've been singing to the tlx commercial every time it airs.
The one with sinatra's My Way sung vicious style.
Much love acura. Awesome choice.

Frank would have matched the car better though and made the commercial more elegant.

Belzebutt

Speaking of mediocre, the article itself has a typo in the sub-title:

"With the Acura TLX we aims at the discerning customer who concerns about quality".

fsttyms1

This. If Acura wanted to get the attention of a different crowd, they could have found someone to remix Sinatras original version to make it classy, yet up tempo.It sure would make more wanting to listen and watch the commercial more likely than change the channel with the garbage vicious song they used.

kurtatx

Consumer reports should stick to their surveys. The survey of how people like their cars and their cars' reliability is valuable data for most regular joe buyers, but they have zero valuable input when it comes to driving.

VR1

+1

charliemike

$36K sedans:

Mercedes CLA, BMW 320i, Ford Fusion AWD, Chevrolet Malibu 2LTZ, Lexus IS250 RWD, Audi A3, Audi A4, Volvo S60, Hyundai Azera, Chrysler 200C, Buick Regal GS and Lacrosse, Volkswagen CC, Cadillac ATS, Lincoln MKZ ...

That's a very crowded market with top of the line domestics, base model Germans and Japanese, and others in between like Volvo. I don't know how Acura plans to stand out in that crowd.

oonowindoo

you can also throw the fully loaded Accord V6, Altima, Maxima, and base ES350 in there.

charliemike

I didn't realize that the Max/Accord/Altima got that expensive. The ES350 starts at over $37K so I didn't include it. But it's close enough.

It's a really crowded segment to "it's nice" its way to the top.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Hmm the Accord Touring is at $33.6k. So it can get close to $36k with destination charge?

For $36k, you have pick either the TLX 2.4 Tech, or the TLX 3.5 base.

I thought the TLX, whether it's the 2.4 Tech or the 3.5 base, offer a lot and/or offer something different compared to those cars.

For instance, for the 2.4 Tech, its features would easily outshine most cars listed. It's also a good driver's car with great ride comfort. With the 3.5 base, while you lose some features, but it's still a very well equipped car. And its powertrain is more than competitive against most the cars in that list.

charliemike

It's an AWD car with a wheezy four banger and it's a driver's car?

Sarlacc

I don't think the i4 gets AWD. It gets all
Wheel steering (4WS)

I could be wrong.

oonowindoo

yah 2.4 does not have SHAWD... or it will be even slower...

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

This doesnt mean much, but we hit up the Acura dealership today. They had about 8 TLX's on the lot, none of which were SHAWD. The interior felt cheap, particularly the steering wheel. It had a rubberized feel to it. For the money (sticker was $40k for most of them), I'd rather save $6k and get an Accord or go for a Genesis. Its a shame because I really wanted to like it.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

No AWD for the I4.

And it's all relative. In this class, compare to the cars in your list, seems like the TLX I4 is a driver's car in that group. It's much like the 1g TSX. It didn't have a lot of power and it was FWD, but it was highly regarded in its class. That's just based on the reviews thus car. Would be interesting to see how it does in comparison tests. And most importantly, one probably have to go drive it to find out.

Obviously if you compare it to like a M3, Miata, S2000 or whatever, it's a boring piece of turd.

EhkoXC

See, I don't think you can include the Maxima and ES (and a few others from the other list). At least among the people I know, size matters when shopping for a car. So, while the prices might overlap, I don't think you'll get a whole lot of people who would cross shop like that. I get the point that you guys are trying to make, but I just don't think it rings as true as you think it does.

ttribe

Saw my first TLX in the wild on Friday on the freeway. It looked...okay. It was a nice shade of blue and, other than the beak, didn't really do anything to call attention to itself (good or bad).

Joneill44

I also saw one Friday and from behind you can clearly see the exhaust tail pipes under the bumper, which kinda defeats the purpose of hiding them

ttribe

Yep. I noticed that as well.

oonowindoo

i test drove the I4 base TLX yesterday. They did not have I4 for me to drive last time when i drove the V6.
There was really nothing to write about the V6 at $45k.

i am thinking about trading the accord for a 4 banger TLX and give it to my parents, so the i had to keep reminding myself that this is a car for my parents, not for me since obviously the priorities are different.

The good:
For a car that costs low 30s, Acura really got the suspension and quietness right. It offers a good balance of sportiness and comfort. The interior feels better than anything else in the low 30s range. DCT is great, even in Auto mode. Sound system is great, again, for a car that costs low 30s.
LED headlights are great.
It is pretty fun to drive with paddle shifter but i feel the type of fun i experienced should belong to Civic Si or ILX. It just does not suit the type of car TLX is.
The fake leather feels better than BMW's
Door sounded heavy when closed
Even though the I4 is only slightly lighter than the V6, but the car feels a lot lighter than V6.

The bad:
The reflection of the left AC vent!!! whoever said it is not annoying is either lying to themselves or blind.
Front seat feels "small". I feel most of my thigh was in the air while i was driving. It almost feels like it was a seat made for short people only.
The front of the car does not match with the rear. Front is typical Acura, conservative, yet not quite Hondaish. But the rear is so boring to look at.
Car is very underpowered (but i guess it does not matter much since it is for my parents).
E-Parking brake. I have a feeling that my parents will definitely be driving with the parking brake on more than once with the TLX.

Overall the 4 banger is a good car for people who care about tech, price and interior. If you care about power, acceleration and handling, then this is not a car for you. the front seat does not have any bolster. It almost feels like a bench seat. So you will be sliding off to your passenger side with any kind of "driving" with corners.

I am still undecided on the TLX yet for my parents because it is a great value for $31k BUT i feel that the car might be too complicated for them to drive without calling me everyday about it.

The 8speed auto in the F30 is very comparable with the 8 DCT as far as shifting speed goes. I had higher expectation for the DCT but maybe because the I4 did not have enough power to make the shifting more.... exciting.

Black Tire

Wow...even when Consumer Reports starting making sense of how bad Acura is doing, it pretty much says it all.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Nice review. Was at an Acura dealership this weekend but didn't test drive the TLX. I did however sat in one. I thought the inside is nice and sound insulation is much better than previous Acura's. What I mean is that, in older Acura's (and Honda's), even with all the doors and windows closed inside the dealership, you can still hear people chatting outside, not anymore with the TLX.

Btw, did you test drive the V6 AWD model (since you mentioned the $45k price tag)?

oonowindoo

no the FWD one with Advance package. It had 45k sticker cuz it had all the accessories on it. It was a Demo car for the dealership and since my friend is one of the top managers at Sierra Acura, i got to drive it.

Yah and they wanted $3000 something for the 19" wheels.

the dealer since got 2 more TLX V6 with 45k stickers (43k + accessories),
I was told that they have not sold ANY those 45k TLX yet, but the 4 bangers get sold as soon as they arrive at the dealership. The one i drove was actually the last 4 banger they had and they had about 10 or so V6 with Tech.

I realized what the problem is with the higher priced TLX the moment i sat in the base 4 banger. Other than the engine, the difference in the base I4 and top trim V6 in terms of looks, feel and interior is very minimal. So to an average buy, it offers no real justification to spend the extra $10k, $15k more. and we are talking about the low $30k customer base, where $10k and $15k is valued a lot more than say cars in the $60k, $70k range.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

LOL $3k for the fugly 19" rims what are they on? haha..not surprised not many people are gonna pay $3k for those rims....I can get myself some really nice set of rims for that price.

Based on what you are saying, it seems like Acura might start offering incentives for the $40k+ trims?

oonowindoo

yah the if i recall correctly, the front lip cost about $600 and rear is about $600 and i think the sideskirt cost even more. oh, that little lip spoiler on the truck was $600 as well i think.

I just checked the price for those accessories on Acura.com. Even though i don't remember the exact # but they were definitely more expensive than what is advertised on the website.

Ken1997TL

Remember dealer price includes installation and whatever else they feel like.

Fibonacci

It's for "your parents".

oonowindoo

Hey my parents deserve nice things. They bought me my CL-S when i was 18 years old. It is only right i return the favor with 2 cylinder and 60hp less.

Belzebutt

I just checked, $2300 for the 19" rims, and $1200 for the tires. What. The. Hell.

The problem is Acura doesn't allow any customization from the factory, so you have to get these rims IN ADDITION to your regular crappy rims, and you end up with the crappy rims with all-season tires and your nice rims with... summer tires obviously. The only way this would make any sense is if you could A) get the rims as your only rims and therefore at a much smaller premium, or B) get these rims and be able to get winter tires on your other rims, if you live in a winter climate. Really, A) is the only option that makes sense, B) is just too convoluted because someone has to take over your new useless standard tires.

They won't be selling many of these. I paid half that for a set of mint OEM Audi rims and tires that came off an S4. Who's going to buy an Acura to save money over a comparable BMW/Audi/Lexus and then waste money on a set of ludicrously expensive wheels.

Fibonacci

Good thing there's this obscure off-the-wall web site called tirerack for peeps in the know.

Fibonacci

Except those sedans aren't exactly all $36k with the same feature set or comparable AWD performance. Nice try though. When I see you rocking a MKZizzle or Regal GSizzle - we'll know that Lincoln and Buick are the new standard for performance sports sedans.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

You're about $5k off since the SH-AWD TLX starts at $41,450.

Belzebutt

Some of us like OEM rims that are designed to match the car. And Tire Rack is not a substitute for Acura's inability to sell a proper set of wheels with its cars (with the exception of the TSX/TL A-Spec wheels which were quite nice but again, forcing you to be stuck with a useless set of tires).

fsttyms1

And you cant get an AWD TLX for 36k either. You will have to step up to the low 40s for that.

fsttyms1

Fibonacci

Exactly.


Oh how will Acura compete?
Oh how will Acura differentiate itself from the market place?
Oh how will Acura ever sell a midsize near-luxer again?

Simple, by offering standard goodies such as LED headlights, an 8spd DCT, the option of Super Handling AWD, yada~yada. All at significantly less than a stripper German and offering more fun than a Hyundai Azera or Lincoln MKZ.

Haters gotta hate.

ttribe